The Peruvian bus story

As I was on my way to work this morning, I had a good idea for the blog. Well, at the time, I was not having a great time. Well, just read on to find out what happened.

It was 6:45 in the morning, and I was on my way to work. I have to take two busses to get to work. The first one I take is a smaller bus called a combi. It seats, oh, lets say maybe 10 to 15 people. When I got on, I took one of the last seats. Now, I have to give you an idea of what these little combi´s is like. They are very small vans, and you can´t even stand up in one. I was sitting there, and they guy who takes the money just keeps on letting people in. Soon all the seats are filled, and he keeps letting people get one. With people still getting on, there are soon 5 people standing. I bet he would have let even more people get one, but he almost didnt fit. Anyways, that is not the bad part.

So, I get to Avenida La Molina, which is kind of like a junction for the bus, and I switch to another bus. This IS a bus. Much bigger. I would say that 20 or more people could sit on this bus. But they do not stop at that in Peru, and I am used to that. I will get onto a bus where there is only standing room. Its okay. But, some of these guys who lets people get on don´t seen to notice, or don´t care how full the bus is getting. More and more people get on, and soon it feels like a can of sardines. I mean, you look out the window and see a fat guy walking towards the bus and you think to yourself, " Holy crap, we are all going to die!". This morning was like that. This bus go to crowded that I literally had to push people back so I would not be touching the bus driver.

Mornings can be like that in Peru when you don´t have a car. It is cheap though.

And that is all for now. I will keep you posted on other things as they happen. Most likely next time will be about the guys who take money on the bus. Yeah, that will be another long story.

Brandon J. Greer